Indian police released a pigeon they thought was a spy from China after holding it for eight months. They let it go into the wild on Tuesday.
The pigeon was caught near a port in Mumbai in May. It had two rings on its legs with words that looked like Chinese. Police believed it was spying, so they took it in. Later, they sent it to a hospital for animals in Mumbai.
It turned out the pigeon was actually a racing bird from Taiwan that got lost and ended up in India. With permission from the police, it was sent to a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Their doctors released it back into the wild on Tuesday.
The Mumbai police couldn’t be reached for comment.
This isn’t the first time a bird has been suspected by police in India. In 2020, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir let go of a pigeon owned by a Pakistani fisherman. They found out it wasn’t a spy after investigating.
In 2016, another pigeon was held by police because it had a note threatening Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
